Barn doors showing up in Homer derby

The top three fish in the Homer Jackpot Halibut Derby standings are each better than 200 pounds, an aberration for the month of May.

Tom Barkman of Homer remains atop the May standings with his 214-pound fish landed May 14, and also holds fifth place with a 185.2-pound fish caught two days later.

Second place belongs to Electa Hostetter of Anchorage, who caught a 203-pound fish Sunday. Ken Belden of Nucla, Colo., is in third place with a 200.8-pounder caught May 20, and Edna Aguirre of Anchorage is in fourth place with a 196.4-pound fish caught May 18.

The first tagged fish of the 2002 derby was caught over the holiday weekend. Mark Breci of Eagle River landed a tagged fish worth $1,000 Saturday The fish was sponsored by Homer Boat Yard.

One recent noteworthy derby event was the catch of 12-year-old P.J. Payne of Homer. Payne landed both a 135.2-pound fish and a 120.6 pound fish on May 19.